Starting her day with a golden score win against Szabina Gercsák (HUN) in the round of 32, Aoife then came up against world number eight Miriam Butkereit (GER) in the round of 16.

The key difference from her Tokyo 2020 experience was Aoife’s family being right there with her, including her 92-year-old grandmother.

“It's incredible to have them here and see them even though I couldn't do a medal for them today,” Aoife said.

“They're on the other side of the world and I always feel like they're supporting me 100 per cent which goes for every single one of my family members overseas.

“I hope I did everybody proud.”

It was a slow start to the contest against Gercsak, with the Hungarian issued two penalties inside the first two minutes for non combativity.

Aoife continued to take the fight to Gercsak and once the golden score period began, 13 seconds later Aoife pinned down her opponent for a crucial point to book a spot in the round of 16.

There she met Butkereit who had a noticeable height advantage on Aoife, but the 28-year-old Aussie started in control of the contest despite registering no score.

After more than two minutes of golden score something had to give, and Butkereit’s crafty footwork led to ippon being given and the two competitors sharing in a heartfelt sportswoman embrace.

Aoife, from Traralgon in Victoria, left the mat knowing she had given it her all.

“It's a huge honour to be able to compete at the Olympics for Australia, it's what every kid in sport dreams of and I've been lucky enough to do it twice now, so I can be proud of myself for that,” she said.

“I think I went out and I gave out everything I had, a small mistake and it cost you the day, so that's what it is.”

Jeff Dickinson-Fox